Jets coaches impressed with how Geno Smith handled year

Rookie quarterback Geno Smith was thrown into a tough spot, to say the least.

After overcoming an incumbent quarterback, an internal soap opera and an inconsistent cast of offensive talent, the Jets quarterback has made some impressive strides this year.

Soon, he’ll find out if he’s starting over with a new staff.

“He’s come a million miles,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said of Smith, via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “The young man never flinched.”

Since bottoming out against the Dolphins on Dec. 1, Smith has played perfectly acceptable rookie-level football. The three-game slump that culminated with his halftime benching against the Dolphins notwithstanding, Smith has shown good progress over the course of the year while learning a new offense.

Of course, the Jets coaches admit it wasn’t easy for him, as they threw too many combinations of players his way to settle in at one point, making the slide perhaps inevitable.

“That three-game period will bother me until I die,” offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said, admitting they were “probably playing too many guys.”

“We almost had to re-start.”

Whether Smith has to this offseason remains to be seen, but he’s at least shown enough to think he’s part of the mix for the starting job next year, depending on what other moves get made around him.

If Geno starts in NY next year, it will be because there is no decent alternative. The Jets have a real problem at QB. Sanchez was horrible there and Geno is like the second coming of Mark.

Teams passed on Geno. Geno thought he’d be off the board pretty early and be the first QB taken. EJ Manuel goes first and shows some good talent….. Maybe there is a reason no one wanted Geno?

Heard the same excuses about Mark Sanchez there for 4 years. People could accept excuses when the Jets made deep playoff runs. When the D started to allow teams to score, Sanchez couldn’t keep up. Now we will hear excuses about Geno.

12 TDs, 21 INTs and a passer rating of 65. I guess he would have to try to be worse.

weepingjebus says:Dec 27, 2013 9:42 AM

Don’t get your hopes up too much there, Geno my friend. It has been ordained that Rex and Sanchez shall be together for another glorious year. You, like the rest of us, can only expect to sit there and watch it with amazement.

Right cause first year stats say it ALL, ask peyton how his 28 ints his rookie year felt? Oh that’s right, he developed just fine, and the same goes with Geno. You can’t compare Sanchez and Geno’s rookie seasons, Sanchez has a better WR/TE corp and a better defense.

EJ has ZERO excuses…he’s got two excellent RBs, a reliable TE & WR and decent o-line and a rising defense yet…he just hasn’t been reliable…Buffalo’s let some bum off the street come in and play better than its FIRST ROUND pick!

Hope it works out better than Fitz-MAGIC!

How dare someone even mention a Buffalo Bill in this conversation?! A team that has the worst super bowl record in the league and hasn’t seen the playoffs since Clinton was in office….

Keep on hating trolls! Geno was asked to do more then any rookie quarterback this year being thrown into the fire with no team built around him. If you put Geno Smith on the bills he would have way better stats unlike Manuel who has Goodwin, Johnson,Woods, Spiller, Jackson and chandler and still puts up a mediocre stat sheet every Sunday. Geno on the other hand is leading a team with Greg Salas, David Nelson, Santonio Holmes, Kellen Winslow Jr and Jeremy Kerley. His only real weapon is Ivory.

Keep going bills fans or whoever you trolls are fans of! You’ll be regretting this pick in a few years when Wheelchair Manuel is on IR.

The saddest part of this blog are those ” Big Bang Theory” cast members who actually have nothing better to do but post their hatred, when I am sure none even got tackled on a football field no less played the game.

Impressed? Not at all, how can a coach be impressed? He single handedly cost them a few games. SINGLE HANDEDLY…. sure one can argue he had no one to throw to, and that’s not his fault…but what is his fault is the fact he threw to the wrong team…20+ times…I’m all for giving the kid another year with more weapons, but I would like to say this as well….

Sanchez would’ve performed just as well if not better with this OL and Chris Ivory…
Watch him sign with Oakland and be a stud…. well maybe not a stud lol..

To keep things in prospective, Buffalo moved up in the first round ($$) to get EJ Manuel. And rightfully so he got the bulk of work in camp before the season began.
Geno fell to the Jets in the middle of round two (bargain) and had to split time in camp when he was healthy.
So now Geno put in 16 reg. season games with a lot of int’s. But he got a full season of repetitions. Which any QB will tell you is the utmost importance, reps, reps, reps.!!!
EJ Manuel didn’t get as many LIVE reps Geno did, so you can bet he’ll have a lot more int’s next year if he can get on the field.

Jets are predicted to win 2-4 games with Sanchez. They may win 8 with Geno.

Geno starts the season not knowing how to take a snap from center. Last 3 weeks, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, passer rating of 83, and shows an understanding of how to use his legs to beat defenses.

This guy has shown that in spite of being horribly ill-prepared by WVU to start as an NFL QB, he is highly coachable and possesses mental toughness (the polar opposite of draftnik reports).

If Geno played for any other team but the Jets, there would be almost no troll posts here and the media would be considering him an “ascending talent” who has burst through “the rookie wall” as the “game slows down for him”.

It’s comical how every outlet thinks it makes for a good story to constantly try to perpetuate the “Jets Circus” angle.

It’s not how you start, but how you finish!!! I will admit I was one of the first to jump off the wagon but I am back on now. I support Geno as the starter for the future but let’s get the kid some weapons in the offseason. IMO Kerley, Nelson, Ivory, and Powell are the only skill position players worthy of being on the roster. Free agency and the draft should be a treat.

Give me Sanchez. I now everyone won’t say it because they all trashed Sanchez so much they can’t take him back now, but I’ll take Sanchez over Smith. Even though there wasn’t much of a passing game Smith wouldn’t have led us to the two consecutive AFC title games. Smith = roll to right and throw an interception for a TD. Even if you dont agree you must admit after seeing Smith it wasn’t all Sanchez’s fault the past two years.

Geno is a Crybaby Diva! Rex kisses his feet…. Santonio Holmes is an over paid WR who just sucks and is a locker room cancer . The Jets are a joke ! Mark Sanchez was thrown Into a bad situation but I’m glad he is laughing to the bank with $14 million a year ….